Durus al-Balagha — First Lessons in Arabic Rhetoric (دروس البلاغة) — Page 98

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

وَإِلَى مُجَرَّدَةٍ، وَهِيَ الَّتِي ذُكِرَ فِيهَا مُلَائِمُ الْمُشَبَّهِ، نَحْوَ: ﴿فَأَذَاقَهَا اللَّهُ لِبَاسَ الْجُوعِ وَالْخَوْفِ﴾، اُسْتُعِيرَ اللِّبَاسُ لِمَا غَشِيَ الْإِنْسَانَ عِنْدَ الْجُوعِ وَالْخَوْفِ، وَالْإِذَاقَةُ تَجْرِيدٌ لِذَلِكَ.

And [it is divided] into a 'mujarradah' (stripped) metaphor, which is one in which a characteristic appropriate to the 'mushabbah' (the object being compared) is mentioned, such as: 'So Allah made it taste the garment of hunger and fear'; the word 'garment' is used metaphorically for what covers a person during hunger and fear, and the word 'tasting' is a stripping (tajrid) of that.

وَإِلَى مُطْلَقَةٍ وَهِيَ الَّتِي لَمْ يُذْكَرْ مَعَهَا مُلَائِمٌ، نَحْوَ: ﴿يَنْقُضُونَ عَهْدَ اللَّهِ﴾.

And into a 'mutlaqah' (absolute) metaphor, which is one with which no appropriate characteristic is mentioned, such as: 'They break the covenant of Allah'.

وَلَا يُعْتَبَرُ التَّرْشِيحُ وَالتَّجْرِيدُ إِلَّا بَعْدَ تَمَامِ الِاسْتِعَارَةِ بِالْقَرِينَةِ.

Neither 'tarshih' (reinforcement) nor 'tajrid' (stripping) are considered until after the metaphor is completed by the 'qarinah' (contextual indicator).

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Vocabulary · المفردات (11 verbs · 33 nouns)

• ذَكَرَ — to mention
• أَذَاقَ — to cause to taste
• اِسْتَعَارَ — to use metaphorically
• مُجَرَّدَة — abstract
• مُلَائِم — suitable (masc.)
• مُشَبَّه — likened object (masc.)